


Perfect Day

by LyssGreen



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Chris saves the day, First Kiss, Fluff, Leon is also a stressed parent, M/M, Not Beta Read, and sherry got to grow up with Leon playing loving dad, barely even checked it over tbh, because it is 1999, birthday party like its 1999!, idk guys i just wanted to write something super nice and fluffy, its sherry's birthday, kids birthday parties are hard, oh yeah, post RE2 and Code Veronica, the leon got to be a parent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21710242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyssGreen/pseuds/LyssGreen
Summary: It's Sherry's first birthday after Leon took her as his own child after Raccoon City - and somehow organising a birthday party and making the cake is so much more stressful than a city of Zombies. Thankfully Chris is there to help. Domestic fluff and cake icing abound.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Chris Redfield
Comments: 2
Kudos: 85





	Perfect Day

**Author's Note:**

> Me: gosh I should write that 1000 word essay that's due in like 5 days  
> Also me: write over 2000 words of fluff
> 
> Look I just wanted some fluffy stuff, k?

May 1999

“Okay, so hold this,” Claire shoved a few well wrapped gifts into Chris’s chest, “And we need this,” she took a large covered plate out of the trunk of the car, balancing it on the topmost gift she had just made Chris hold, “And this!” She held out a blue and white striped gift bag behind her as she closed the trunk of the car. Chris struggled to hold out a finger to take the bag while holding onto the large box and not allowing the tray of sandwiches to fall.

“And you couldn’t hold any of this because?”

“Because I made the food, and wrapped Sherry’s present, and because your my big brother and you love me.” She flashed an overly bright and cocky grin. Chris fought the urge to roll his eyes at her as she walked away from the car and up to the small but homely house that Leon was raising Sherry in. He could hear the giggle of kids from the back garden and the low murmurs of what was likely other friends of Leon and parents of Sherry’s friends talking. It still amazed Chris how normal Leon had managed to make their life, even if it was a balancing act between Leon’s job, Claire’s frequent work abroad, as much time as Chris and Jill managed to grab to baby sit when Leon and Claire were busy and the few times that Rebecca had to be called in as a last minute baby sitter. Raising the girl had become a group project, but really it was Leon who had become the stable figure in her life.

Claire rung the door bell, leaving Chris to fight with his full arms and not trip on the stairs up to the porch. Happy birthday banners were stuck to the door and windows and there was a red balloon tied to the door handle – Sherry’s choice Chris figured. Sherry and Leon may both have a love of the colour blue, but if there was any colour other than blue or grey in sight then it was definitely Sherry’s doing. She had him wrapped around her little finger. Chris almost feared what the girl would be like when she grew up. Behind the door he heard the quick thudding of feet running through the house and the door was yanked open, revealing Sherry standing with the widest grin on her face and a happy birthday badge on her chest.

“You made it!” The girl leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Claire’s middle. Her blonde hair was a little longer than the last time he had seen her, with a blue flower hairclip pinning her fringe back.

“Of course we made it!” Claire hugged the girl back. Chris knew missing today hadn’t ever been an option. They had already missed Sherry’s first Christmas with Leon, with the Rockford island incident being so late in December and then by the time they actually got back and dealt with the aftermath of it all they realised that they had left Leon alone with Sherry the whole of Christmas. That was something they both felt guilty about. “We wouldn’t have missed your birthday for the world!” Chris had a feeling she meant that literally. Claire was a stubborn woman and he was pretty sure even if the world did try to end right now she would sternly tell Umbrella off and return to Sherry.

“Chris!” He barely heard her before noticing she had detached herself from Claire to latch onto his legs, almost knocking him over in the process.

“Hey kiddo! Come on, let me inside so I can give you your presents.”

Sherry dragged them both inside, taking Claire by the hand and grabbing a fistful of Chris’ green shirt and pulling them both into the living room. They piled the brightly wrapped presents on the coffee table before Chris grabbed the sandwich tray.

“Hey Sherry, is Leon in the kitchen?”

“Yuh-huh,” came her reply, she was too distracted tearing into a present that Claire had chosen for her to unwrap first. He just smiled at the exchange, he hadn’t realised how sweet Claire could be with kids until after Raccoon – she’d only been the little helpless sister in his mind for so long. He left them to it, heading towards where he knew the kitchen was.

He found Leon looking more than a little stressed. His blond hair was sticking up in places as he appeared to be cursing at a bowl of icing. A slightly deformed cake was sitting on the unit on a rack, probably cooling having not long been taken out the oven. The kitchen was a mess, piles of burst balloons, wrappers and packaging from the decorations and what looked like another bowl of icing in the corner beside the fridge. Whatever colour he was trying to get the icing to go, Chris was pretty sure the blackish sludge that the failed icing was probably wasn’t the answer.

“Leon?” Chris called to get his attention. The man turned and Chris had to try not to laugh at the icing sugar that painted his shirt and the white handprints on his dark jeans from where he had clearly tried to brush the sugar off of his hands, and the small smear of icing on his cheek from where it looked like he had tried to push his bangs back with icing on his hands.

“Chris! Uh, help.” Chris put down the tray of sandwiches beside the un-iced malformed cake.

“What’s up?”

“How do you make purple?” Leon practically whined, “Before you say it, I know it’s red and blue food colouring, I’m not that dumb – I just can’t get it to work!” He sounded far too defeated considering the circumstances.

“That’s what has you so stressed?”

“Sherry asked for a purple cake, so I said I would, ‘cause I want this to be perfect! She was so sad last week when I asked her about her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said she had never had a party before and she had never had a home made birthday cake – so of course I said I’d make I all myself and-“ He continued to ramble on without taking a breath, “I just want to make it perfect for her and-“ Chris finally had enough and walked over, placing a hand on Leon’s shoulder.

“Calm,” He kept his voice low, “Calm down, Leon. Christ, you’d think this was the end of the world.”

“No, I’ve seen that. I’ve already done the end of the world and this is harder.” The blond slumped. Chris smiled slightly, taken by how caring he was and how worried about this whole situation was, it was cute – and yes he may have had the smallest slightest crush on the ex-cop. He had ever since he had met the man after Claire introduced the two of them. The fact he saved Claire’s life countless times helped, as did how cute the man was when he was looking after Sherry.

“You have dealt with zombies, you’ve dealt with Umbrella, you’ve dealt with my sister and you’ve been bringing up Sherry for half a year. You can make a birthday cake.” He tried to sound reassuring – but really when your reassurances include zombies it probably doesn’t sound that great.

“But there’s all the other parents and they’re all so good at this parent thing, and when Sherry went to little Kori’s birthday last month Janet did all this fine, and what if I’m just not doing well at being Sherry’s parent. What if I-“

Chris had heard enough.

“Nope.” He left no room for argument. We aren’t even going to have that conversation. Not happening. Now, give me the bowl, you take the other food outside. Tell Claire to play nice with the other parents, go give Sherry a hug and calm down. By the time you get back I’ll have this done.”

“But-“

“No. Go.” Chris watched as Leon considered fighting back before his eyes softened and the smallest of smiles appeared. ‘Thank you’ he mouthed before grabbing the food tray and taking it out the kitchen. Chris sighed at how dense and adorably stupid the man was being before fixing the colour of the icing easily from Leon’s rather maroon attempt at purple to a more royal purple by just adding more blue to the mix and starting on coating the cake. Chris glanced behind him at the wide window to check on the state of the back garden. Sherry was running around with some friends – Chris didn’t know all the girl’s names, after all he barely got the chance to spend time with Sherry, let alone learn more about her life. He felt a little guilty for that, for how much Leon had taken on. The guy had gone from 21 year old newbie cop to zombie apocalypse survivor to stand in parent in the space of a few days and had stood his ground against the US government to be allowed to bring her up before becoming a more full time agent – all for this little girl he spent one night saving and never left since. Leon himself was now with Claire, clearly he was uncomfortable with the number of middle aged women around him but Claire seemed to be doing just fine flattering the woman and playing her part well.

Chris found himself smiling at their rather fucked up brand of a family unit. One brother and sister who barely had much of a childhood themselves, one young ex-cop who was floundering to try and be a parent to a girl that he had only known for one night in hell and one small girl, who had come from neglectful parents and was still trying to get used to the idea that Leon and Claire and Chris to a smaller degree were going nowhere. He finished the cake as he was lost in his thoughts, eventually finding candles in a drawer and sticking them in. He had managed to ice it in a way that hid the slightly lopsided nature of the cake.

“How have you managed that?” Leon sounded dumbfounded. Chris looked up to see him standing in the doorway, “That cake looked awful when I left, how the fuck-“

“Language, Sherry’ll hear.” Chris laughed as he started cleaning up.

“You’re a life saver, Redfield, thank you. Seriously. You’re better at this than I am.”

“No, I’m better at making a cake than you are. I am not better at being a parent. I promise, you’re the expert at that. Better than either of the Redfields. I’d make an awful parent.” Chris stopped talking when he felt a warmth at the small of his back.

“I mean it though Chris, thank you.” Leon was standing right behind him, hand on Chris’s lower back and head dangerously close to lying on Chris’s shoulder. Chris turned to look him in the eye, they were close enough to feel the other’s breath and-

“Leon! Is it cake time yet?”

Sherry’s cheerful giggling and shouting made them both jump, Leon moving backwards and away from Chris hurriedly until he hit the unit behind him with a small thud. Chris tried not to stare at the small pink flush to his skin.

“I should, uh, take this…” he lifted a hand and pointed at the door dumbly before grabbing the cake and a box of matches and rushing away. Chris watched him go, and then followed when he saw Leon get out to the garden and all the kids beginning to crowd around him. Sherry wouldn’t be happy if he missed singing happy birthday because he was too busy being flustered.

He watched from the back of the crowd with Claire as Sherry blew out her candles and the party continued. Either Leon or Chris were busy for the next hour doing something or other that they didn’t have to make eye contact again. Chris and Claire were busy learning about who Sherry’s school friends were and then when it was time for everyone to leave Leon was busy saying his thank you and good byes to everyone, leaving Chris and Claire running around with Sherry in an elaborate game of chase. He had just caught her and the two were laughing when he caught sight of Leon leaning at the back door watching them with a smile and looking the most at peace that he’d looked all day.

“I need to help Leon get cleaned up in the kitchen, you stay with Claire,” He let go of her, “She has tickly knees, go get her!” He whispered in Sherry’s ear before watching her run off with a mischievous glint in her eye.

He walked up to Leon who was still smiling at him, “Everything alright, _Agent_ Kennedy?” He said with a smile – the inclusion of his rank nothing more than a friendly joke.

“You really are good with her, I think you sell yourself short saying you wouldn’t make a good parent.” Chris rubbed at the back of his neck, an anxious twitch he had developed years ago. “Help me in the kitchen?” Leon had a glint in his eye that Chris wasn’t sure how to read. But he was certain it was positive for him. Or at least he hoped so.

“Love to.”

They were stood side by side, closer than strictly necessary as they found a rhythm cleaning dishes and boxing the remaining food up. If their hips bumped against eachother more than once neither mentioned it. Chris caught the way Leon had been looking at him as he had bent over putting the last of the now clean plates in the cupboard and only smirked in reply, turning back to face him.

“Hey Chris, you saved the day. Thanks.” Leon stepped closer. Chris followed suit, bringing them chest to chest.

“No problem.” He leant down, giving Leon the time to move away. Instead he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and another snake behind his neck to pull the taller man down. Chris rested his hands on Leon’s hips as their lips met, slow and peaceful. Leon still managed to taste like the smudges of icing sugar he had been covered in before and like sugar from the birthday cake he had just eaten. 

"Leon, Leon, Leon," They heard Sherry before they saw her, "Today was perfect and-" She rounded the corner and stopped talking when she saw the two of them still with their arms wrapped around the other.

"Yeah, it was perfect wasn't it?" Leon murmured against Chris' lips with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a Kudos or comment if you like <3  
> Oh and the problem with purple icing comes from a memory I have from when I was a lot younger of my mother fighting to make purple icing for cupcakes on one of my birthdays - she tried very hard but uh, yeah she didn’t have a Chris to fix it - it was an awful awful colour lol


End file.
